You Will (Not) Fail
by Thaeonblade
Summary: Saved from assured death and awoken into an alien world, this girl may hold the key to her liberator's atonement and happiness. Set after Rebuild 3.0/spoilers for 3.0.
1. Chapter 1

**Copyright: I own nothing. Neon Genesis Evangelion and it's theatrical adaptation, Rebuild of Evangelion are both owned by Hideki Anno and Gainax/Studio Khara. This is a non-profit story made for my own amusement.**

**Got it? Cause I'm not repeating myself.**

* * *

**Nevada, USA**

Carrying a delicate weight, Kaworu carefully contemplated his next action.

The Eva which he piloted gracefully levitated above him, awaiting his next command. His red eyes scanned the desolate area and his curiosity almost overwhelmed his purpose for being here.

The Impact which he had narrowly averted caused many changes within the world and even he could not have foreseen the event that caused it. That one would be so desperate for happiness that he would risk such destruction? When he awoke, that third child would enter a world that would be alien to him with people who would hate him for what he had inadvertedly done.

He would be alone.

At his command, he was lifted from the ruined grey ceiling and allowed to drift into a large gash which was left behind by the upheaval that this place had endured. Through the holes in the wall, Kaworu could see the dark red sea from which this place had risen. No doubt a side effect of the temporary, but devasting impact upon this place.

He landed upon the floor and felt the weight in his arms stir. Her eyes opened while her body twitched within the light and dark blue skin-tight plugsuit which he had garbed her in.

"You do not have much time." Kaworu told the girl while he walked through the corridors of this lost facility, "Can you hear me?" The girl's eyes looked into his and her lips spoke a word without sound. The girl seemed shocked by this and her eyes darted downwards.

"You've realized by now that you cannot speak." Kaworu explained, "Your voice has not recovered from your recent rigor mortis." Her eyes widened with full understanding of Kaworu's words. Moving her vision to her limp arms, the features of her face tensed and soured from recalling memories which were still fresh within her mind.

"A smart girl aren't you?" Kaworu remarked and brushed away a tear from her eye, "Yes...I am afraid that you died...It was an instant effect that you, your classmates and your family did not suffer through."

"But you will ask, if you did...why are you here?" Kaworu asked the girl and set her within a cushioned human-sized mold. Seeing that the girl had somewhat calmed down, Kaworu pulled out a red multi-strand object and brought it to the girl's face, "It seems that the very object that killed you...is the source of your salvation. When it pierced your body, it absorbed your soul and gave me the time that I needed to heal your body."

"It was more of an effort than I had anticipated, but your body has been restored. With it, your life as well." The girl looked from the object and then to Kaworu, her features softened as if she were trying to express gratitude to the grey haired boy. Kaworu appreciated the gesture and smiled, "But there is no home for me to return you to. So I must leave you here."

"You will awaken into a world which you will not recognize. With all of your friends and family long since deceased." Kaworu elaborated while holding out his hand in front of a console next to the mold. Lights in the room activated as Kaworu felt the base's power redirect to this room, "But you will have a chance to make your own happiness child. A chance you will not have in this world now."

"I hope to meet you again, but if not...I have a single favor to ask of you." Kaworu knelt down to the girl's ear and whispered his favor into the girl's ear. When he stood back up, the girl looked up at him. She seemed uncertain and terrified, but attempting to be brave. "Can you do that for him? Help him find his happiness?" The girl's eyes met his again and tilted her head forward before it fell back into the mold.

"I thank you, Horaki Hikari." The girl's eyes widened when the capsule which she was in rose from the ground and closed with her inside. "Much time will pass before you awaken, but I assure you that it will only seem like you have been asleep for a few hours...sleep peacefully..." The capsule turned and rested within the ceiling of the chamber as it's interior filled with the liquid which would preserve the poor child for as long as necessary.

"Goodbye."

* * *

**_REBUILD OF EVANGELION 4.0: YOU WILL (NOT) FAIL_**

* * *

**15 years later...**

Her heart beat...

She inhaled and exhaled, a harmless liquid flowed through her...

Her eyes opened and saw only blackness...

"The power's good on this thing." She heard a voice echo while she numbly moved her hands, "What do you say Commander?"

"Turn it on, there's a life sign inside it." Another voice echoed while the darkness began to clear away, "Is it an angel?"

"No...Blood Type A. Whoever's in there, it's human." She was now aware of the dull grey interior in which she lied, "Open it up."

"Ah! The opening sequence is totaled!" She heard the sound of something getting kicked above her, "It must have been damaged during the last Impact."

"If opening a life pod is all that was damaged, this place must be built like a rock."

"Probably stronger, it's the only section of the Nevada base that was found intact after the incident with Nerv's Second Branch." Her body shook when she felt something hit her metal cocoon. The edge of a knife dug into the metal before her and carved down, "Hey! Hey! What are you doing!"

"Opening the door." A faint, familiar voice said as she saw glove hands reach into the opening and pull outwards. As she gasped, two doors opened outward and splashed liquid into the outside world. The girl fell upon a figure and plummeted to the floor with him holding her, "Not one of my better ideas."

"Obviously." The girl heard someone say as the figure held onto her and pushed himself up onto his feet, "Didn't the Colonel warn you about stunts like that?"

"Not exactly..." The girl was now aware of the figure in a tight-suit with reinforced shoulder pads, chest plating and a helmet with a horned chin and a single horn portruding from above the narrow visor. The design seemed demonic, but also familiar to her, "Sorry about that...we had to get you out of there."

"Me?" The girl asked as a stark chill encompassed her body and brought her arms over her chest, "...Am I alive?"

"You've been in cryosleep for a long time." The figure explained and threw a black jacket over her shoulders, "Here...you're probably cold right now..."

"Where...am I?" The girl asked as she looked and saw four other figures in similar outfits except with different designs for their helmets and more armoring for their suits, "Who are you?"

"Just a screw-up Gaki." The man holding her said before the entire building began to shake, "I thought we had more time..."

"Guess not, time to move." Her liberator's teammate stated while the other three moved out of the largely empty room. As they left, the last squadmate handed the girl's liberator an aluminum pouch with a red liquid inside of it, "Give her this to drink. It tastes like shit, but it'll speed up her body's recovery so we can get out of here quicker."

"Got it." Her liberator agreed and picked her up while he exited the room, "This won't taste good but-"

"I heard that other guy..." The girl answered and opened her mouth while she was fed the horrible liquid. True to the warnings, the drink was the worst thing that she had ever tasted in her life, "Thank you for...asking..."

"Don't worry about it." Though she grimaced, the girl felt her body grow warmer and strength flow through her body, "Can you walk?"

"I don't know-" The girl mumbled and saw something dash up the hall on all fours, "Look out!" Her liberator threw her to the side and brandished the rifle at the creature. Bursts of ultraviolet heat riddled holes into the advancing creature which screeched and fell at the armored figure's feet. It struggled to get up while the girl's liberator pulled out a knife, knelt down and stabbed the monster in it's armored skull.

"You alright back there?"

"I guess..." The Liberator coldly said after the creature became limp and he pulled out his knife, "You okay?"

"What is that?"

"A daemon...artificially created angel husk created to hunt and kill humans." Her liberator answered while kicking the creature and dislodging it's head from it's hole-riddled neck, "And we're in the middle of their territory."

"Territory? There's more of them? Is there a nest or a hive nearby?"

"She catches on quickly." One of the squadmates complemented, "That one that Anchor just killed was a scout. A good thing too or else it's buddies would've found us before we got to the extraction site."

"So we're getting out of this place?"

"Yeah." Her liberator answered while picking her up, "Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

"Thank you..." The girl answered, seeing her own terrified expression upon her freckled face in a nearby broken mirror, "Who are you...if I'm allowed to ask..."

"Sure." The squad's leader answered while they all hustled through the creaking corridors of the facility, "We're troopers of WILLE's Para-drop Elite Operations Taskforce."

"Or just P.E.O.T. for short." One of troopers stated, "I'm Trigger, our commander is EZ, Phoenix is our medic, Print is our Scout and the newbie carrying you is Anchor."

"Okay...hello everyone." The girl replied while weakly waving at the troopers, "I'm Hikari...Hikari Horaki..."

"Hi Hikari." All but one of the troopers replied, "Anchor! Say hi!"

"Sorry...hi Hikari."

"Hi Anchor." Hikari said to the trooper who was still carrying her, "Sorry for being so noisy..."

"Relax, daemons can't hear anyway." EZ assured the girl and put his hand on the shoulder of a panting Anchor, "Getting tired Anchor?"

"I'll be alright." Anchor said, brushing off his superior's hand, "Still getting used to these suits."

"Well these are meant for combat rather than piloting son." EZ chuckled, his helmet was a little bulkier than the rest and had a clear visor with which Hikari could see his hardened but friendly face, "Hope the armor doesn't scare you."

"I think everything scares me right now..." Hikari admitted while EZ shrugged his shoulders, "What are those suits for? Do they really protect you?"

"These suits keep us invisible to the daemon's long-range trackers. Which means the only way for them to find us is to personally hunt for us. They also have built-in shields that are a hassle to recharge, but they're worthwhile in tight spots like this," Trigger noted while poking his helmet which featured a T-Visor and a single antennae. Upon hearing this, Hikari gulped and realized that she felt very naked right then. She patted herself with a single hand and felt a tight-fitting outfit that had wrapped upon her body.

"The plugsuit? Don't ask us, you were in that when we found you." Anchor explained while Hikari's own panic increased, "Calm down...As long as you're clustered with us, you should be alright."

"Okay..." Hikari replied, feeling her feet move at her subconscious whim, "I think I can walk now."

"Do you think or do you know?" Phoenix asked, Hikari noted that it was a female speaking despite the vocal obscuration of the trooper's helmet, "We're not far from the ES, Set her down and let her work those things we call legs."

"Alright...alright..." Anchor said while he sat Hikari on her feet and watched he while she managed to stably stand, "Looks like you can stand on your own..."

"Yeah...I guess so-" Hikari tried to take a step and fell forward, being caught in Anchor's arms, "Sorry..."

"Don't sweat it. You've been in cryo-sleep for fift-" A harsh nudge from Phoenix stopped Trigger from speaking further, "Nevermind...Anchor, call Mother Duck and tell her to get down here."

"You sure about letting Anchor have the comm?"

"Can you speak Japanese?" EZ asked Print, who shrugged his shoulders while handing an earphone to Anchor, "My point exactly."

"Why are you all here?" Hikari asked as Anchor moved a few feet away from the group, "I appreciate that you've saved me...but I feel like you weren't looking for me-"

"Classified I'm afraid." Print replied before loading his rifle, "But it doesn't look like it's here so we're bailing before the shriekers get us."

* * *

"Anchor to Mother Duck...Mother Duck come in." The trooper spoke into the comm, grunting when nothing but static answered him, "Damn...the signal's too weak here."

"Try a switching to a different patcher." "Anything?"

"She moves around so much that...got it!" Anchor called out while locking onto the mother ship's comm channel, "Anchor to Mother Duck, come in."

"Mother Duck to Anchor, we read you!" A young ecstatic voice replied, "What's the status on Team Pathfinder?"

"Everyone's alive and we've found a survivor." Anchor reported and gave a quick look over at the girl, "A young girl, 14 with freckles and brown hair. Her name is Horaki Hikari."

"Hikari?" The voice on the other line asked, "One of Touji's friends-"

"I'll take it from her lieutenant Suzahara." A cold voice sounded, "Anchor, your team's objective is to search for and pinpoint the location of Unit 04."

"What about the extraction request-"

"Belay that order Suzahara!" The trooper's superior shouted, "Find that Eva before the daemons or Seele do. Do you understand me?"

"Misato-"

"Do you understand me?"

"We've already searched the entire facility!" Anchor yelled, causing Trigger to shake his head, "There's no sign that Unit 04 was ever even stored here! It could still be inside the Dirac Sea for all we know! Get us out of here-"

"Negative! Don't question the orders of your superior-"

"Why not! Why can't I question things that suck?" Anchor yelled back into the comm, "If you don't believe me then here's the Commander."

"I was just about to jump in." EZ noted when he took the comm from off of Anchor's helmet and attached it to his own, "Colonel, the sargeant's report is accurate. There's no sign of the Eva anywhere here."

"You wanna piss the colonel off more Anchor?" Trigger laughed before Anchor punched a dent into a nearby wall and sat down, "Can you try arguing with her when our lives aren't at stake too?"

"We've scanned the area twice already." Anchor heard the squad commander report while he silently fumed about the Colonel's animosity towards him, "The instability is increasing, this whole area's about to collapse back into the sea."

"Collapse?" Anchor heard Hikari mutter to herself, the girl carefully walked to where Anchor sat, "What does he mean by instability?"

"We're on top of a Dirac Sea."

"Dirac Sea?" Hikari vaguely recalled a science lecture about a theoretical sea of concentrated anti-matter and something that Kensuke had told her regarding the disappearance of a NERV branch in North America, "That's impossible..."

"You wanna talk impossible little miss? Hang around us for a while and you'll see impossible." Phoenix stated when EZ ended his transmission and gave it back to Print, "What's the word Commander?"

"Extraction approved, we'll need to pop smoke at the top of this place." EZ said to his team, "So double time people, before the damn daemons catch wind of us."

"Incoming multiple readings!" Print shouted, prompting the troopers to all grab their weapons while Print's helmet scanned around them, "They had a listener...they know that we're here."

"Make that triple time!" EZ commanded as the troopers dashed down the hallway with Hikari being lifted onto Anchor's back, "Trigger! Take the rear! Print! You've got the front! Anchor! Cover my six! Phoenix! Take the girl's six!"

"Yes sir!" Anchor said and dashed just behind the commander with Phoenix behind him and Trigger at the rear running backwards with a heavy barrelled gun while Print ran to the front with two pistols in his hands, "Sorry about picking you up...we're in a bit of a hurry."

"I noticed." Hikari replied when Print stopped in front of a broken door and held up his hand, causing the rest of the squad to halt in it's tracks. Hikari was about to ask why, but saw Phoenix place a finger over the girl's mouth. Hikari nodded knowingly while the team crouched down and EZ approached Print. Print pointed a single finger towards the doorway and held up four and then two fingers in quick succession.

EZ nodded and motioned for Trigger and Anchor to move towards the front. Anchor sat Hikari next to Phoenix and moved to the front alongside Trigger while EZ rolled out in front of Phoenix and held out his rifle towards the dark hallway. Before she could shout, the commander aimed and fired a barrage of bright bullets at a bulky daemon that reached out of the ground and cleaned it's head from it's shoulders. Another one crawled over the corpse and charged at the commander, who fired a single shot at the red core on it's chest and then it's skull-like head before it dropped to the ground dead.

At the front, Print quietly counted down before grabbing a cylinder can from his belt and throwing it into the room. A blinding flash of light appeared and was gone within the room. Trigger slammed his shoulder against the door to break it down as Print and Anchor leapt inside and opened fire on the blinded daemons within. Trigger moved in and unleashed a rapid payload from his repeating gun as Anchor fell back into the other hallway and covered Phoenix as she brought Hikari with her into the abandoned control room.

As Anchor moved to the side of his commander who had began to reload his depleted rifle, a swarm of diverse and furious daemons cautiously advanced towards them. Now opening fire as well, EZ and Anchor fell back into the doorway before being joined by Trigger who fired a grenade from his rifle that impacted in the middle of the enemy swarm and caused a furious explosion that divided the creatures. With the creatures scattered, the troopers retreated into the doorway where Phoenix had placed a device onto the rim which created a green forcefield over the doorway. One daemon attempted to rip open the field and a green surge ran through it's humanoid arms and into it's body until the red core on it's chest exploded and the creature fell.

"Area cleared-" Print was cut off when an armored claw reached through the wall and grabbed Anchor's shoulder and pulled to continually bash Anchor's head into the wall. "Wallmen...move Anchor! I can't get a shot!"

"Help him!" Hikari shouted as the daemon emerged from the wall with Anchor held out in front of it. The other troopers leveled their weapons on the creature as it ripped off Anchor's helmet to reveal the back of a head full of brown hair.

"Shoot damn it!" Anchor shouted in a voice that Hikari now recognized while the creature roared past it's hostage. It held one of it's free hand at Anchor's neck and a long blood tainted pincer grew out and stopped just before Anchor's neck, "Shoot it!"

"Hold fire!" EZ commanded while the team slowly spaced out to try and get a better shot on the creature. Anchor grunted when the daemon poked it's pincer into his neck, warning the other troopers not to move, "You're one of the smart ones I guess?"

"Don't flatter the enemy sir." Trigger spat while keeping his finger on the trigger of his large gun, "We can't stand here for long sir...Anchor's gonna lose a kidney, but I've got a shot."

"Do it-"

"Hold fire Trigger! That's an order." EZ stated while nothing in the room moved as Hikari's own breath began to quicken, "Print, take the girl ahead to the ES."

"Yes sir." Print began to move, but the daemon turned so that he faced his troopers while a light cut ran along the side of his neck, "Shit..."

"Shinji?" Hikari gasped when she saw the face of the growling trooper and instantly recognized her as one of the Eva pilots and a member of her class. Recognizing his identity and realizing the situation, Hikari felt something in her heart rise and something surged through her arms. She shot them forward in panicked alarm as runes of light appeared on her arms and the daemon seized up in surprise and alarm.

"What the-" Phoenix was cut off when an orange transparent octagon appeared between the daemon and his hostage, amputating it's forearms as Shinji fell onto his back and opened fire into the creature's core followed by the rest of the team, "Plug that hole!"

"My pleasure!" Trigger stated while moving in front of the gargling Shinji and firing into the breach in the wall. Hikari ran over to help Shinji up while Phoenix knelt next to him and dozens of shrieks sounded from within the wall's hole, "Area secure."

"Good." EZ noted while Phoenix applied a light colored gel to the cut on Shinji's neck while he grunted in pain and frustration, "You alright Anchor?"

"Yes sir...I've had worst..." Shinji noted and noticed Hikari's confused eyes locked onto his face, "Hey Class Rep...are you alright?"

"I should be asking you the same, are you okay?" Hikari asked while Shinji caught his helmet which was covered in the daemon's blood and proceeded to wipe off his visor, "What just...happened?"

"You saved our asses I guess." Phoenix shrugged as the runes on Hikari's arms faded, "Ritsuko will know more about exactly how you did that shit."

"Did what?" Hikari asked and remembered the barrier that had appeared a few seconds ago, "I did that?"

"That would explain the white stuff on your arms." Print noted before Trigger grabbed him by his collar, "It was a wallman! You know those things can't be detected by any radar-"

"Then pull one out of your ass before I reach in it and grab one myself!" Trigger warned and released his squadmate, "I just hate that mexican standoff shit."

"Think any of us do?" While Shinji exhaled in relief, Hikari felt a sudden pain in her chest and arms and moaned while she fell onto her back and started gasping in shock, "Hikari? Medic!"

"I'm right here!" Phoenix shouted as she took out a knife and pulled Hikari's suit at the chest. While Hikari's eyes started darting all over the place, Phoenix placed a wired pin onto the girl's chest and pressed a knob on her helmet. A surge of electricity fired into the girl's heart, causing her eyes to widen more before she fell to the ground and calmed down, "She's stable...I don't know how, but she just went into cardiac arrest."

"A heart attack?" Shinji asked with concern while Hikari struggled to remain conscious, "Forget about Misato, we need to get her to the medical ward asap."

"Hold on kid, first we've gotta save ourselves." Trigger muttered with a chuckle, "We're not gonna make it to the ES at his pace...what's the plan Rudder?"

"That's the old co-sign, stick to the new one alright?" EZ playfully suggested while looking from Hikari to the vacant control room which they sat within, "It's been fifteen years...but I'd say that there should be a hanger around here...which means that we just have to blow the door."

"And pray that there's something we can use to fly out of here." Print muttered while hacking into a nearby control console which activated to his surprise, "Great! There's just enough juice to get some schematics out of this place."

"Any exit points?"

"Hold on..." Print continued to watch a cracked monitor while Anchor held Hikari in his arms and Trigger watched the now empty hallway and it's adjacent walls for any sign of daemon activity, "I guess we can work with this."

"What's the word scout?"

"I've got good news and I've got bad news." Print began before turning off the computer and pointing to large opaque window which was lifting up to reveal clear glass underneath, "This control room leads right into a hanger bay that's filled with at least three cargo jets. All of which are out of fuel and shot beyond repair."

"And the good news?"

"That was the good news, relax I'm not done." Print assured Shinji as he put his helmet back onto his head, "There is a transport plane that may have enough fuel to get us out to sea, but after that...we're on our own."

"Does it have any cargo?"

"A package listed as unknown." Print answered his commander, "It's also mounted with two loaded 209mm cannons, so we'll be safe if a Nemesis decides to show up."

"Great! So we just gotta clear out the hanger and then-" Phoenix mumbled something in Chinese when she saw Print start to check his ammo, "What's the bad news?"

"The Auto-Launch is scrapped. We'll have to manually prepare the timer and be on the ship before it launches." Print stated to his team, "What do you want to do Commander?"

"There's nothing else that we can except charge." EZ casually said, "Anchor, you're are with me to secure the transport and see if we can start it so that our launch will be somewhat controlled. Print and Phoenix, set the timer on the launch catapult and Trigger, cover them until they set the timer."

"180?" Print asked while EZ nodded, "Alright...I'd rather go with 60 though..."

"120."

"Deal." The trooper agreed while the squad bumped their armored fists in a circle and got to work. Shinji followed the Commander to an opened doorway with Hikari holding onto his back. The two activated low-level flashlights attached to their helmets and slowly made their way through the dark hallway. Spotting stairs that went downwards, Shinji followed EZ down the steps to a broken down door leading to a fragile catwalk.

"Wanna just jump down?" EZ asked Shinji who looked at the more lively Hikari, "She'll be alright, I just don't trust walking on that frigid thing."

"Agreed." Shinji reluctantly answered and watched EZ dash out of the doorway and leap down to the floor below. When he landed, a dent was made in the floor while blue static circulated over his suit for several seconds, "Hold on tight...this may be rough."

"Okay..." Hikari agreed as Shinji took off into a dash and jumped out of the doorway and over the catwalk. Both teens felt their jaws shake as Shinji's feet impacted the ground, but instead of a dent, Shinji's feet touched upon an orange octagon shape that faded out and allowed Shinji to quietly land on the floor, "What just..."

"So are the one who made that shield." EZ noted while pointing to the docked massive transport plane nearby, "Ritsuko's going to have a lot of questions for you."

"Me too..." Hikari said as she felt her chest compress again though with much less pain, "What's...happening to me?"

"I'm afraid that I just don't know." EZ replied while he and Shinji dashed towards the stairs which lead up to the docked transport plane. Hikari noticed that a large red cross was attached to the bottom with something stabled to it underneath a great white cloak, "So that's the package...maybe Misato won't be so mad at us after all."

"She doesn't hate you, she hates me." Shinji replied as they climbed the stairs and entered the largely intact though disorganized transport plane's passenger area, "And she's right to."

"If she does hate you, she hates herself even more." EZ stated as Shinji placed the calmer Hikari in a nearby seat and ran to a nearby console. EZ meanwhile was in the pilot's section whose door had fallen from it's hinges, "If were gonna use this thing, then we'll need a co-pilot!"

"Found the gunner controls!" Shinji shouted from the back of the plane before running back to where Hikari was trying to stand, "You might want to stay in that seat..."

"Can I do anything to help?"

"Thanks, but we'll take care of everything." Shinji assured the girl as both rocked from movement on the plane, "They got the timer on the catapult working! Now what?"

"I've prepped the engines and the timer's set!" EZ shouted back, "Check for the others!"

"Got it!" Shinji agreed while dashing out of the plane and feeling the entire facility shake, "Is the area collapsing?"

"MOVE!" Phoenix roared as she ran into the hanger and dashed past Shinji to enter the plane. Behind her, Trigger carried Print who had a nasty gash in his side and his arm while both fired into the doorway which they had exited. Shinji leapt down the stairs and threw a grenade at the approaching armored daemon before began firing. The grenade exploded and encompassed the creature, but it continued to slowly march forward, healing the gash in it's bulky shoulder.

Just as Shinji was about to charge the creature, the large cannons on the ship's top turned towards the creature loudly fired, blasting off the daemon's top half as more smaller creatures ran past their fallen comrade. Shinji ran back to the stairs and kicked them down while Print threw another grenade and closed the paneled door.

"Is everything ready for launch?"

"I was about to ask you the same." Shinji asked Print while Phoenix checked the scout's wounds, "Nice shot Phoenix."

"That wasn't me." Phoenix said and pointed to where Hikari had her hands on her knees as she sat in a seat next to the plane's gunnery console, "Where did you learn to use military-grade equipment kid?"

"My friend was a military otaku whose father worked in the military."

"Good enough for me." Trigger noted as all of the troopers grabbed a seat and buckled in as Print ran into the cockpit, "EZ! You in the cockpit? Are the engines prepped?"

"Yeah...we'll only have enough fuel to barely escape the Dirac Sea, but everything's set." EZ answered from the plane's intercomm, "What did you set the trigger on?"

"60 sir..."

"This'll be fun." EZ said as the plane violently shifted into the hanger's floor and slowly pulled backwards as the troopers sat in place, "Seat belts everyone..."

"At least we're safe now..." Shinji said and helped Hikari get her seat belt before sitting next to the girl and putting on his own seat belt, "Relatively speaking...how are you feeling?"

"How should I feel?" Hikari asked while her hands were glued to her seat rests, "I don't even know what's happening to me or what's going on..."

"I'll tell you everything when we're out of here Hikari." Shinji assured her and absently placed his hand on her's, "You're not going to like a lot of it...but you won't be alone..."

"Thanks-" Just then, the plane was violently shot forward by the readied catapult and it's passengers were rocked when the plane broke through the large hanger bay doors and entered the outside world...

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**So begins You Will (Not) Fail.**

**Like I had mentioned in the summary, this will take place about a year after the events of Rebuild 3.0 so there will be spoilers for those who haven't watched that movie yet...**

**I won't say too much yet except that I'll be pretty critical of a certain character who really ticked me off in 3.0 I won't say who it is yet and I'll keep the "bashing" to reasonable levels, but let's just say that she and I have had a history with each other...**

**Why did Kaworu save Hikari after Near-3rd Impact? How come she can create temporary AT Fields? Why is Shinji a commando? Will the team make it to safety? Just what is a daemon which now apparently threatens the world? How will Hikari take the full truth about the world that she has awoken within?**

**Answer to the last quesiton: Not well.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wunder, Skies above the World**

"Colonel! We got a signal from Pathfinder!"

"Where are they?"

"60 miles west of the Nevada Dirac Sea." Misato remained seated while Lieutenant Suzahara watched her from her control console, "Should we send an extraction team to pick them up?"

"Get Asuka on the comm," At the Colonel's orders, a viewscreen activated above the command deck and revealed one of Wunder's most verbal captains, "Asuka, we've got Pathfinder's relocation signal, prepare an extraction team."

"Got it Colonel," The red-head yawned while in the process of repairing the interface to a smooth pilot console within a long, open cylinder capsule, "The Kyoko should be in that area within 8 hours, gotta watch our fuel after the last Nemesis Attack."

"Understood." With that, Misato closed the comm, "Suzahara! You have the bridge."

"Yes ma'am."

"I need a drink..." WILLE's leader left her command chair and the command center, feeling a few glances thrown her way as the door closed behind her. As she walked through the wired halls of the grand ship she commanded, she sometimes used her rusty but effective Ops training to remain unheard and unnoticed. A technique that she'd found effective for hearing about where the minds of her crew stood as far as their commitment and their state of mind.

For the past year, she had not heard anything positive.

"Heard that Pathfinder's out again?" A starboard guard asked his partner while Misato quietly listened, "I thought that it was Raptor's turn this time?"

"It was, it was an emergency deployment. Part of the Second Branch of Nerv rose out of the Dirac Sea and the Colonel wanted to know if something was down there."

"Like what? Survivors? An eva-"

"You know we're not supposed to talk about any of the "E's" right?"

"Shikanami talks about her's all the time!"

"Aboard her ship. Call it another effect of the Colonel's shining persona."

"Yeah about that...I just think that she has it out for Anchor."

"The kid? I heard that he was involved in that mess a year ago and the one fifteen years ago."

"As in he was one of the pilots for the evas-"

"Come on bro!"

"What is the Colonel gonna do? Fire me!" The guard laughed while Misato exhaled in annoyance, "The Colonel's attitude with the kid is hogwash. She acts like the kid somehow caused this shit-hole that we're living in."

"She's not the only one. But, who knows what Nerv was really up to all those years ago. I bet that they really did it and they're using the kid as a scapegoat."

"Maybe the kid really did do something, but I'd blame Nerv more than a kid."

"That's probably why the colonel made the kid a PEOT trooper, get him out her hair and mind with a bonus of getting him killed-"

"I've heard enough..." Misato shook her head and walked down another hall while hearing those two guards laugh at some joke that she didn't care about.

As she stomped, she began to feel something within her. An ache that bit at her mind despite all attempts to rationalize it away or to explain how it wasn't her fault. An ache that had eaten away at her for fifteen years since Sachiel's attack on Tokyo-3. An ache that told her to accept and deal with the reality of the hell where she lived.

It was a hell that she helped create.

"No it's not..." She murmered to herself, "It's his fault...he did this...not me...I had nothing to do with. I was...trying to save the world...like I'm doing now..."

* * *

**Pacific Ocean**

Blood...

An ocean of blood...

Hikari was disgusted when she attempted to see her own reflection in the dark red waters. She had heard about the poisoned water left behind by Second Impact, but this was the first time that she had ever seen the water up close.

15 years after another Impact.

Of course, her rescuers hadn't told her of the date yet. She only found out due to peeking at a calender that Trigger had and from recalling a timer that she scanned for half of a second before being ushered along with PEOT troopers. There was so much that she wanted to ask them, but she felt as though this wasn't the best time. They were still stranded in the middle of this sickening endless bowl of blood and she was sure that they wouldn't want to be pestered by some lost girl.

After all, they'd only found her by coincidence.

Despite this, she had grown to like her rescuers for the most part. Since the ocean was incapable of supporting any life, the troopers relaxed their guard and took off their helmets for the time being. She only knew one of them and vaguely remembered seeing another once or twice and didn't know the rest so she didn't ask for their real names. It was even hard to figure out since they usually used their co-signs even outside of combat.

Trigger was easily the largest of the troopers and a "tough guy". He spent most of his time checking the ammo on the team's weapons and the transport plane's cannon. Out of all of the troopers, he was the one who spoke to Hikari the least, but he rarely talked at all. The only time that she remembered talking to him was when she asked about a series of tattoos on his neck.

"The names of my boys." Trigger answered while pointing to each name, "Maxell, Tristen and Joseph. I put their names on my throat so that every breath that I make will carry them with it...so that I don't lose track of my inventory." Even though she didn't ask, Trigger's eyes grew watery when he was talking and then he hurriedly walked away before Hikari could ask what was wrong. Were his children dead?

Print preferred to be up "on deck" where he could see the open sky and was pretty chatty. He was pretty much a show-off who liked to brag about his abilities as a recon trooper though he made no attempt to hide the difference between exaggerations and his real actions. Print was further unashamed about his girlfriend and was a little too "detailed" about their interactions when he was off-duty.

"I don't mean to brag, but I keep her up all night and day!" Print finished with a laugh while Hikari's face remained red from his description of one of their "experiments", "My sweet Sakura..."

"I'm glad that you're...happy together..."

"It's kind of a like a fairy tale...minus a few mood-killers here and there..." Print muttered while pointing out towards the crimson sea that surrounded them, "But hell! What's a better deal than sailing through the end of the world with your pen-pal?"

"Your pen-pal?" Hikari asked, recalling a faint memory of Toji complaining about his sister's pen-pal, "Sakura was your pen-pal?"

"She still is! We just don't use paper."

"If...you don't mind...where did you live before...all of this?"

"Norman, Oklahoma." Print replied as Hikari confirmed who Print's pen-pal was, "Of course, it's known as Tornado ditch since there's one about once a week. It wasn't always like that though...before it was only once a month...and those things were beautiful to look at."

"Weren't they dangerous?"

"Of course they were! But that's what made them more beautiful!" Print laughed, "Just like my Sakura...does a number and can raise hell...but she's pretty and we treat each other well..."

Phoenix was always in the plane checking the controls and the status of their makeshift cruise, so Hikari tried not to be a distraction. However, Phoenix and her ended up speaking a lot as they were the only females on the plane. She was gruff, but rather nice and normally asked Hikari questions about what she ate.

"I was hoping to meet another vegetarian..." Phoenix admitted with slight disappointment while she did a quick scan of Hikari's heart rate with a sensor that she pinched onto the collar of Hikari's plugsuit, "Everything's in order though. Blood pressure normal, cholesteral level is healthy and body temperature has risen to normality."

"Was I worst earlier?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary...you were in that suspension pod for a while." Phoenix added and seemingly cut herself off, "That's just how they work, they lower body temperature to inactive levels to preserve the patient. You're lucky that we found you when we did."

"What would have happened if you hadn't?"

"Nothing lasts forever, eventually the power supply of the system would've ran out. Without that, there would've been nothing to keep your body stable with the body temperature that it was in and you would've died in your sleep."

"Oh..." Hikari muttered while shivering as Phoenix looked at her in concern, "I'm fine...it's just...I really lucked out..."

"Someone upstairs must've liked you." Phoenix commented with a smile, "Finding you did everyone here a favor, you even saved our Anchor."

"Shinji..." Hikari recalled the orange barriers that she'd somehow created and frowned in confusion, "How did I do that?"

"Ritsuko's the only one who'd know for certain. But I'm not gonna look a blessing sour in the eye."

"You saved me too..."

"We're hardly even, you saved Anchor from the Wallman and took out that Daemon as it was gaining on us when we escaped. Even anything, I still owe you one and no but's about it kid."

EZ was likely the most calm and collected member of the group. She felt most at ease around him, especially when she finally recognized his features. The man was older than when she had last seen a glance of him, but she was sure that he was one of Miss Misato's co-workers in Nerv. Despite the questions that she held, EZ's teasing attitude and simple outlook on their situation warmed Hikari if only because she needed something...something to calm herself.

"Been a while since I've had to babysit a teen..." EZ remarked one night while he was on watch with Hikari sitting on the end of the plane, "Watch your balance, I don't think that we'll be able to get you out if you fall."

"I'll be careful." Hikari replied while scooting further away from the edge of the hull and nearly slipping before EZ caught her, "Thank you..."

"A thank you? That's a new one for me..." EZ laughed while Hikari blushed, "Don't worry about it...I'm just used to a certain Diva dismissing any notion about gratitude or needing help at all."

"That...sounds like Asuka..." Hikari murmured, a brief memory of Asuka Shikinami kicking away an admirer made her slap her face and giggle, "She was fuming all through detention..."

"So you remember life as it was?" EZ asked while Hikari was reminded of the reality that she now floated upon, "Sorry about that...you're talking to a guy whose lived through two impacts too many."

"What happened during the last one?" Hikari heard herself ask before she slammed both of her hands onto her mouth and sobbed, "Sorry..."

"You'll have to find out sooner or later." EZ remarked with sadness, "But...it's best not to give you an answer until you can handle it."

Then there was Shinji...

* * *

Shinji sat on the port side of the plane, absently watching the ripples in the water as the plane floated. On his side was his helmet, a demonic mask that resembled the face of Unit 01 as Misato's way of reminding him of his mistakes. Hell, she was still as cold with him as she was a year ago when he first woke up in this strange and unfamiliar world.

A world that he had created.

A world that he had worsened.

A world that hated him...and he deserved it.

That was one reason why he was glad that EZ convinced Misato to let him join the PEOT corps. It gave him a chance to try and work to make up for what he had done. Thankfully, most PEOT members and WILLIE officials outside of the WUNDER didn't know or believe the story about Shinji's actions 15 years ago and that provided him so semblance of peace when he joined.

Even during the most dangerous of missions.

His team had hated him at first, mostly because he was weak, unresponsive and a "newbie." He remembered enough from his EVA training to handle a gun, though there was a clear difference between using a rifle as an Eva and as a person. As an Eva, you had a barrier to protect you from things that harmed you...as a human, you were constantly vulnerable from both the known and the unknown.

But he hadn't cared...in fact, he wanted to die.

"Shinji?"

"Hi Hikari..." Shinji didn't turn, he couldn't face her, "How do you feel?"

"Cold...confused..." Hikari's voice admitted, "I don't know where I am...I don't know how I got here or...why I'm here...or...what happened to my family...and...my friends..."

"I was like that too."

"You were frozen too?"

"Yeah," Shinji replied, daring to give an aside glance and saw Hikari Horaki stare out to the distance like a wordless ghost, "I was frozen with...someone who wasn't there when I woke up..."

"Do you know what happened to her?"

"She's gone..." Shinji looked down at the water, not wanting to remember "his Ayanami", "It's all my fault..."

"That's not true..." Hikari offered with a small smile, "I don't know what happened all of those years ago...but I know that it wasn't your fault. You were trying to protect us..."

"No I wasn't...I was trying to save Ayanami..." Hikari's smile faltered from Shinji's comment, "Sorry if I sounded selfish...but...I was trying to save Ayanami...that's why I came back."

* * *

"You left?" Hikari asked with surprise and a small hint of disappointment, "Why?"

"Remember Unit 03?" Of course she had, Hikari was walking Nozomi to visit Sakura when they saw Unit 01 throttle a multi-armed Unit 03 into the ground and violently rip out it's entrails. Nozomi was shielded while Hikari saw the carnage which ended with a pilot capsule being crunched down by the victorious evangelion, "That's why..."

"You...you had to kill the pilot?"

"I didn't want to kill Asuka..." Hikari gasped, now realizing the truth about Asuka's absence from school in that last week before Zeruel attacked, "My father activated an auto pilot program and forced me to do it. I got angry and he dismissed me like an ungrateful child...I was tired of him...so...I quit..."

"I...see..." Part of Hikari could see that what Shinji had done was inherently selfish and yet sympathized with his point of view and emotions. She suddenly shivered to imagine what she had been in Shinji's place and Touji's were in Asuka's, "I...think I understand..."

"I know...it was selfish-"

"Maybe...but it wasn't wrong." Hikari consoled while looking down at the bloodied water, "I saw how close you and Asuka were...she was your friend. You wanted to find another way to save her...but...you were forced to kill her...I'm sorry that you were in that situation Shinji..."

"Thanks...it doesn't matter though..." Shinji stated in deflated defeat, "Because when I did come back...all I did was just make everything worst..."

"How is that possible-" Hikari shook and grabbed onto Shinji when the plane violently rocked and splashed water onto both of them, "What was that?"

"Might be a storm coming...let's get back inside." Shinji led Hikari to the hatch and opened it to let her inside and jumped down after her and watched the hatch slid closed, "We're out in the open sea, nothing to worry about-"

"Battle stations!" EZ's voice called back as Shinji and Hikari entered the Control Room where the rest of the team was gathering their equipment in a hasted pace, "Pattern Blue Anomaly! I repeat! We have a Pattern Blue Anomaly!"

"An angel? They're all gone!"

"Then explain that thing!" Trigger shouted and pointed out the large dark entity that swam past the plane and rocked everyone off of their feet, "Whatever it is...it's projecting an AT Field! That means we're frying roosters unless we can get past it!"

"Take Inventory! What do we have that can hurt it?"

"The 209mm cannons are still armed, but they're useless with that AT Field up!" Phoenix reported, "What about our precious cargo?"

"I couldn't get the door opened..." Print lamented and pointed to the hatch in question on the floor, "That thing is magnetically sealed or something...I've never come across anything that tough on a cargo plane."

"So whatever it's carrying...someone wanted to make sure that the right people got to it..." Hikari noted while kneeling down to observe the hatch, "Isn't there a way to get to it from outside-"

"Never go more than 10 meters into the sea..." Phoenix stated as the plane was rocked more violently, "Whatever we're gonna do...we need to do it fast!"

"Blow the hatch!" EZ called back, "Trigger...set the charges...Anchor, scare Hikari into making a barrier around the explosion."

"Barrier...eh...I don't..." As Hikari began to object, Trigger began to set a serious of sticky grenades onto the hatch, "You're...you're really throwing this on me?"

"Sorry Hikari...but, we're all going to die either way." Shinji apologized as the plane was rocked again, "Did you have to put so many of those things onto the hatch?"

"Yeah...sorry about that-" None of the troopers moved as the inside of the plane shook with smoke forming underneath the translucent barrier that had been erected by a sweating Hikari, "Sorry scaring you...but I wanna live."

"Okay...just...give...me...more...warning next time..." Hikari fell to her knees with pressure seizing her chest as Phoenix applied cardiac aid to her chest while the smoke cleared to reveal that part of the hatch had been blown open, "At least...it...worked..."

"Anchor! Get down there and see what we can use!" While the troops put their helmets on, Shinji pried away the rest of the hatch and jumped down into the passage, "Sound off if you're not dead!"

"Very funny!"

"How is that funny?"

"Just men being boys." Phoenix assured Hikari and gave her a scratched pilot's helmet, "Found it in the storage closet, you may need it if we start to leak."

"Is it going to matter anyway?" Hikari asked while putting on the helmet, remembering that this ocean was essential a death quaqmire for anyone unlucky enough to fall into it, "Thank you though..."

"We're not dead yet, that means there's a chance." Print offered as the plane rocked up and slammed the trooper's head onto the console, "OW! The hell was that?"

"That came from underneath us...Anchor! You alright down there?"

"I don't believe it..." Anchor's voice echoed upwards, "All this time..."

"Shinji?" The plane rocked again, sending Hikari falling down the shute and landing haphazardly on a soft surface in a dark area, "Shinji? Are you down here?"

"You're...kind of...heavy..."

"What?"

"Please move..." The HUD display of Shinji's helmet activated to reveal that her fall had placed Shinji into an awkward position to say the least. Blushing, Hikari immediately shifted to the side and allowed Shinji to steady himself, "Thanks...what are you doing down here?"

"I fell..."

"Hikari! Anchor! You guys alright down there?"

"We're fine! Thanks!" Hikari shouted upwards, turning her gaze to the minimal space that this cylinder space had, "What is this?"

"It's a pilot capsule..." Shinji mumbled more to himself than to Hikari, "An undocked pilot capsule..."

"To what though?" Hikari asked while noticed the capsule spin downward while lights activated that made Shinji gasp, "Shinji?"

"An Eva..." Shinji muttered with sheer terror and suddenly bent over holding himself, "I...I...musn't...runaway...I musn't...I musn't...I musn't...I musn't..."

"Shinj!" Hikari cried out, realizing that Shinji was in the midst of an anxiety attack, "Shinji calm down! Everything's going to be fine..."

"No it won't...everytime I pilot Eva...everyone dies..." Shinji said as the plane shook once more, "It's all my fault...it's all my fault..."

"Phoenix! Someone!"

"Hikari! What's wrong?"

"It's Shinji! He's having a panic attack!"

"Shit! The shaft closed on us after you fell down! We can't get to you!"

"Patch me through to EZ..." Shinji sharply demanded despite his shaking limbs, "NOW!"

"This is the inside of an Eva..." Hikari said to herself in amazement while realizing that the symbols from before were appearing upon her arms at the same time that she felt a heavy pressure within her chest, "Not again...why is it happening again..."

* * *

**SS Kyoko**

"Captain!"

"What Baka?" Asuka Shikanami demanded as she stormed onto the bridge of her airborne vessel, "How many times do I have to tell you about waking me up from my naps-"

"Pattern Blue ma'am..."

"Should've said so the first time!" Asuka roared at the console operator before kicking him square in the face and using his face as a stand while she leapt back and landed upon the armrest of the Captain's chair, "Pattern Blue...is it another Nemesis?"

"This one's different..." Asuka heard as the viewscreen indicated that the Pattern's DNA was detected near the Dirac Sea of Nevada, "We've also got an SOS signal from the Pathfinder Team. It looks like the target is attacking them-"

"Really? NO SHIT!" Asuka roared as her eyepatch gleamed blue for a few seconds, "Where ever you go...trouble always seems to follow you Gaki...How long until we reach the team?"

"We won't be within effective combat range for another hour and a half-"

"All hands! Prepare for triple speed!" Asuka announced on the intercomm, "Prep the Valkyrie for deployment...I might have to go fishing..."

"We'll arrive in time to rescue Ikari-kun?" Rei Ayanami asked while Asuka confidently smirked, "Was that an inappropriate inquiry?"

"Just an unnecessary one, we'll get that gaki." Askua assured her blue-haired comrade and was annoyed when the girl's face remained neutral and disinterested, "You could always smile..."

"Alright..."

"Like you're really happy, don't phone it in!" When she realized that Rei was merely confused, Asuka growled in exasperation, "When I'm out, you'll have the helm lieutenant."

"Understood."

* * *

**Pacific Ocean**

"Just as I thought..." EZ confidently laughed even as the glass of the cockpit began to crack from the assault of the 345 meter long deformed whale-shark with a skeletal mask around it's jaw, "Maybe I can finally have that make-up dance with Misato after all."

"You knew?" EZ heard Anchor ask in a low voice, "You knew about Unit 04?"

"I knew that it was stationed at the base and thought that we might have been carrying it." EZ answered, "But I thought that getting home was a more pressing concern than our mystery package."

"I understand...sorry..."

"For what? You think that I want to use it?"

"We don't have a choice though..."

"We do, but not in the way that you're thinking." EZ stated while flipping through the controls of the cockpit, "Did you know that the prototype transports had a secret weapon for emergencies like this?"

"Is that why the Unit's AT field is being funneled through the ship's hull?"

"Exactly! This transport was made from excess amounts of the same material used in making an Eva's armor." EZ explained as the plane's emergency power readings rose above 50%, "A few alterations and additions of trace amounts of nickel and cobalt and we had the design for a plane that could use an EVA's AT field to ward off surprise attacks. This one in particular has an emergency power generator created under the same principal."

"How come we never made more of these things?"

"The Commander was a bastard, surprised?"

"No..." Anchor replied as the plane began to rise out of the water, "I don't think that thing is going to just let us run away."

"Too bad...cause sitting still won't exactly help us." EZ quietly savored the power of the activating engines as the transport ship's velocity increased, "Besides...how can it get us when we're not in it's territory anymore?"

EZ was answered when the Whale-Shark flew out of the water past the transport plane. Now seeing a full view of the creature, EZ couldn't help but laugh at what he was seeing. The Whale-Shark Nemesis was using a thin AT field to form a pocket of water around it's form while propelling itself through the air irregardless of the laws of pressure and gravity.

"You can slap me for it later."

"I told you that it wouldn't let us run away."

"Throw your girlfriend at it and it may call it even?" Shinji's silence unfortunately meant that he wasn't taking the Commander's bait, much to his disappointment, "Then it's gonna be a firefight. But we can't do it within Unit 04's AT field."

"But Misato said-"

"Forget about Misato! I'm giving you an objective soldier!" EZ shouted into the comm, "That Eva may be the only hope that we'll have to survive until the Kyoko gets here. We can use it's AT field to enable our ammo to neutralize that thing's AT field and do some damage. But we'll only be able to do that if we have a pilot synchronized to it!"

"I-"

"Do you want us to die? Do you want Hikari to die?"

"No..."

"Then there's only one option...sorry if I sound like your father." EZ apologized as an idea hit him, "In fact...have Hikari synchronize along with you, your combined synch ratio will give you greater AT field capability and more power for the plane."

"EZ...if this doesn't work-"

"It will kid. How many times do I have to tell you to trust yourself?"

* * *

"EZ..." Before Shinji could reply he heard Hikari squirm and turned to see her holding her chest, "Hikari!"

"Shinji...I'm scared..." Hikari muttered while Shinji saw that she was lying within the pilot's seat of the capsule, "What's happening?"

"The Eva...the eva's doing this..." Shinji said to himself when he looked at a control console and recognized it as a rising synch ratio, "It recognizes Hikari as a valid pilot? How? Hikari was never an Eva pilot...how is..."

"Shinji...it's alright...I feel better now..." Hikari assured just before the monitor for the Eva activated and revealed a flying Whale-shark that had just flown past them, "Never mind..."

"Hikari! Scoot over!" Shinji commanded while Hikari complied, allowing Shinji sit next to her, "The eva's already sensed both of us...we'll be able to control it better with the two of us."

"What are we going to do?"

"We fight..." While the Eva's synch ratio increased due to the presence of two pilots, Shinji activated his comm, "Trigger! This is Anchor, I've activated the package and waiting on stand-by."

"Are you alright Anchor? Phoenix is reading that you and the girl's heart rates are wildly spiking up and down...what's going on down there?"

"Look out the window if you're so curious...you'll see a crucified Eva that's just activated." Shinji replied as the Whale-Shark was held off of the transport by a thick-square shaped octagonal barrier that formed around it, "We can hold it off...but we'll need some offensive power to back up our defense. What do we got?"

"The 209mm cannons are our best shot right now...me and Print could set up turrets topside, but we'll be shooting blind with the velocity that EZ is taking us."

"EZ? What do you think?"

"I'll leave this to your creativity." EZ laughed from the cockpit while every member of Pathfinder resisted the urge to shoot out the cockpit right then and there, "Besides...I'm a little occupied with keeping ourselves from being fish-food!"

"Good leaders know how to multi-task."

"Whose commander again? We'll have a word about your lip, young man!"

"Oh! I'm scared now!" Shinji heard Print shout sarcastically while the young man just laughed, "Trigger, you set up the turret and I'll shoot a tracker on it...that'll make it easier for our guns to get it."

"I don't know if we can control the AT field for long." Shinji reported, "Whatever happens, stay inside of it!"

"K...NO SHIT!"

"Now you can't say that I didn't warn you!" Shinji shouted before turning off the comm just as the plane shook from the force of the Whale-Shark's tackle, "Hikari...tell me that we'll get through this..."

"We'll..." A puzzled Hikari hesitated while Shinji's eyes grew heavier under his helm, "We'll do our best...that's all I can honestly say..."

"Will that be enough?"

"Only one way to find out right?" Hikari asked while placing a hand onto Shinji's. For a brief moment, she felt the same that "he" had. It was brief, but it was enough even if it was only longing for someone who died for him a year ago, "Ready?"

"As ready I'll ever be..." Even he wanted to die...even if he deserved to die...Shinji would not allow others to die with him...

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**With the rediscovered Unit 04 as their shield and the key to their counter-offensive, can Team Pathfinder hold off the Whale-Shark Nemesis until Asuka arrives?**

**Stay tuned.**


End file.
